He shrugged and sauntered over to her. Pushing her down so she was lying on her back, he did his dare carefully so as not to touch her.

James’s POV

Really, Nyxie? Why Lily? I’ll get you for this.

“Truth or Dare Evans?” I heard Sirius call over to her.

“Oh, give me a dare.” she responded nonchalantly.

“I dare you to… hmm.. ooh! 7 minutes in heaven with Potter!”

She looked at him quizzically, but nevertheless got up and led me over to the closet.

James’s POV

“Rayne! Your turn!” Lily called.

“Dare!” she called back giddily.

“I dare you to…”

Everyone pretended not to pay attention, but we were all eavesdropping as Lily whispered in Nyxie’s ear.

Rayne smirked as Lily told her her dare. Uh oh. That’s the trademark Marauder smirk. They’re up to something, and it’s going to be good.

Still smirking, Rayne casually sauntered over to Sirius and pulled his arms behind his back. Holding them there, she placed a trail of- very seductive- kisses down his neck to his collar bone, starting behind his ear, gently bit the skin on his neck, and worked her way back up.

I snickered at Padfoot’s pained expression. He looked like he was about to moan, and at the same time, scream in frustration and grab her, throw her up against the wall, and having his way with her right there. He’s said so on many occasion.

Hearing my snicker, he glared at me, and then Remus, who was doing the same as I. I started making faces at him. Soundless moaning faces to be exact. And some other crude sexual gestures. I grinned evilly.

Rayne stopped and looked at Lily. “That all?” she asked in a tone that I know killed Sirius.

“Yepp.” Lily replied.

Rayne sounded like it meant nothing to her at all. 2 years ago, this might have been partly true. Now, well, she may fool everyone else, but I know she’s hurting as much as him. She can’t fool me. I looked at Remus as he looked at me. We were wearing similar expressions. He shrugged.

3rd person POV

“Prongs! Your turn!” Remus called.

“Truth!” James called back, placing a drop of veritiserum on his tongue.

“How many people have you snogged in the last year?”

“Two.”

“Is that all?” Rayne exclaimed incredulously.

“Yes.”

“Damn, James! You need to get leid!”

“Rayne!” Lily scolded lightly.

“He does! Here! I’ll help him out!” she said.

James leaned away cautiously as Rayne leaned in as if to kiss him. Then, right before she was about to, she pulled out a lei and plopped it around his neck, wearing her favorite half smile-smirk.

Lily and James looked relieved. Everyone else cracked up.

“Remus!” Lily called out. “Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“What’s your deepest darkest secret?”

The atmosphere was suddenly thick, suffocatingly so. Everyone tensed, waiting for the answer to come. James, Sirius, and Rayne looked at each other uneasily while Lily sat oblivious. Would he say it? Could he escape the question? Rayne looked on the verge of tears for her friend.

And then, they heard it, his answer.

“I’m in love with Tonks.”

Setting: Rayne’s birthday

Sirius’s POV

Evans came in for the umpteenth time in the last thirty seconds, “Did you get the tables set up?”

“Yes, Lily. James, Remus, and I did.”

“Okay. Remember: your color to wear is lavender.”

“I know, and James is wearing green.”

Her forehead creased as she took in this information. Shaking her head, she said, “No, Remus is green.”

I forgot we didn’t tell her. Oh well, better late than never.

“James is wearing green so Remus can wear blue and match Tonks.” I quickly explained to her.

“Oh, alright. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as you escort Rayne.”

I nodded briefly at her.

“Well, I better go change and then double check the gardens.”

“They’re perfect, Evans.” I said reassuringly.

She smiled faintly and left the room.

James tore off his cloak, breathing heavily.

“That was close!” he panted.

“What, worried Evans’ll catch you in your knickers?” I snickered.

He sneered in response.

Rayne’s party is today. Lily invited their friends Marlene McKinnon and Alice Prewett, along with Frank Longbottom, Alice’s boyfriend of 2 years.

Marlene kindly agreed to let Peter escort her. He’s a great guy; he’s just, well, really weird. And then when you get to know him, he’s even weirder! But he’s got a great mind for pranks, and we love Wormtail.

The party shouldn’t be huge. Just a few friends, the Potters are hosting, the Evans are coming over, we’ll laugh, dance, do this weird muggle thing called Karaoke that Rayne apparently loves, open presents, and then eat cookies and cake, and pie.

Simple, right? WRONG!

Evans is going way overboard. She color coordinated everything! The garden is a masterpiece! (Though monsterpiece may be more appropriate with the state Lily’s been in.)

Rayne will flip out a little at first, but once McKinnon slips her something it’ll be a good time.

(Marlene has actually only done that once, and it was for her own good.)

“Padfoot mate, can you tie these things?”

I looked over at Wormtail and fought the urge to laugh. As a result, I snorted, and poor Peter blushed.

“Here, mate. I got it.” James said, deftly tying the offending object, which happened to be a fuchsia bowtie. Yes, fuchsia. I made the mistake of calling it “pink” around Evans and I got lectured on the importance of knowing color shades for 30 minutes.

I snickered at James. “Prongs is turning into a lady!”

“Well how did you tie your bowtie, Sirius?” he retorted.

I held up my wand, though everyone in the room knew I had tied it myself.

“Just wait, Prongs, soon you’ll be an old broad who has nothing to do other than tie bowties and ties and knit socks!” I laughed.

“That’s not fair! You know my mum makes me go to a lot of parties! In fact, you go too, so I know she taught you how to tie ties and bowties!” he huffed.

“Relax, mate. I’m only joking.” I held my hands up in surrender.

Lily came in then and said, “Come on, men; it’s time to go!”

She had a kelly green dress- I told you I know my shades now! - that stopped at her mid to lower thigh and had a small slit on the left leg and thick spaghetti straps with matching green heels. Her hair was straight and she had light makeup on, only a little mascara and some silvery white green eye shadow along with pale pink lipstick. Her cheeks were naturally rosy. Not that I was looking, of course.

Tonks was wearing the same in blue though her eyes were sharper and her pink hair was spiked at the bottom. There you go, Tonks. Go for the punk look. Remus’ll be all over that. Evil grin.

I imagined that McKinnon and Prewett would be in the same, but their colors of fuchsia and soft yellow.

Sure enough, Marlene came in with her obnoxious lipstick. We bicker, but she’s cool. It’s our way of getting to know each other. Kind of like a fucked up bonding experience. Alice shocked me though. Her brown hair was curled in waves and she had shocking red lipstick on. It worked though.

Pete went with Marlene and I headed off to get Rayne.

Knocking on the door, I called out to ask if I could come in. Hearing her consent, I opened the door. My jaw, literally, dropped. She was wearing a strapless lavender dress to her mid to upper thigh, with the same slit on the left leg. A small bow tied in the back, and the bust folded vertically to form a layered v-neck look, without actually being a v-neck.

An intricate pattern of glittering beads spread lightly across her bust, and her hair was in loose barrel curls falling gently down her back, half pinned up with an amethyst comb, and the other half flowing loosely.

She stood facing the mirror.

“I don’t have a necklace to wear.” she said softly, almost to herself, gently touching her neck.

“I brought you one.” I said, holding my hand up so she could see the long, narrow, white box.

“You shouldn’t have.” she told me.

“It’s your birthday.” I reminded her.

“So I’ve been told.” she replied wryly.

Nevertheless, she opened the box and gasped at the necklace inside.

On a delicate gold chain, a large amethyst in the shape of a teardrop hung with one diamond line as a perimeter, resting right against the amethyst as if one stone, looping around the amethyst and criss-crossing at the top before molding gently back into the metal.

“Thank you.” she murmured as she moved the loose barrel curls so I could clasp the necklace around her neck.

“Anything.” I told her, turning her so I could look into her eyes, which were extremely bright due to the silver and purple eye makeup.

She leaned onto her toes and kissed my cheek.

A bolt of electricity shot through my body. I assume she felt it too, for she had a dazed look on her face and her finger gently touched her lips.

“Shall we?” I asked, offering my arm.

She nodded and laced her fingers through mine.

Rayne’s POV

“Lily!” I called. “You’ve outdone yourself!”

She grinned at me in response.

The Beatles were playing and the garden looked, well, fucking awesome! Lilacs, pink roses, daffodils, forget-me-nots, orchids, callalilies, and all of the magical flowers that Mrs. P keeps in her garden weaved their way intricately through the garden. Purple tulle the color of amethysts was draped through the willowy green trees, creating a tunnel until you reached the tent, where a wonderful looking key-lime pie was placed, as well as a four-tiered cake matching the purple color theme, and every food you could ever want.

“May I have this dance?” Sirius asked me formally as the Weird Sisters came on.

“You may.” I curtsied as he bowed and he immediately twirled me onto the dance floor.

Sirius is an exceptional dancer. When we were little, our mums took us to the same wizard dancing classes. As a result, Sirius plays guitar and drums, and I do point, as well as guitar and drums. (This just goes to show that Sirius does the opposite of what his parents tell him to do, and I do what he does to prove I can do it better.) He refused to dance until Mrs. Potter showed him how much fun it was again, and now we tango, salsa, ballroom, waltz, do ballet, and lots of other dances. Almost anything, really. We love hip-hop. Right now we’re doing a variation of a ballroom to a fast paced song.

I looked to my left and saw Tonks and Remus grinning as they danced. One of the only times she isn’t clumsy is when she dances. James and Lily whirled past us on my right, laughing, and I meant to look for everyone else, but Sirius spoke.

“I hope you know that that necklace isn’t the only thing I’m giving you.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“I’ll give it to you later.” he said, winking.

I slapped his arm. “You know I hate it when you do that! Suspense is not my friend!”

He laughed his bark-like laugh, which I think is completely appropriate, and spun me around so that my back was to him, his arms around my waist.

A slow song started playing and he spun me back around. I rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his cheek on my head.

“You’re monopolizing the birthday girl!” Mr. Potter called. “Let me dance with my daughter!” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “You can dance with your mum!” he finished with a laugh.

“Gladly.” Sirius laughed before walking off to Mum and twirling her extravagantly onto the dance floor.

“How you doing, sweetheart?” Mr. Potter asked me.

“Brilliantly!” I said enthusiastically. “I wish Daddy was here though, or that I at least had some small trinket he gave me, but Seth did a good job at getting rid of everything.” I muttered.

“Cheer up, honey.” he said consolingly. “At least now it’s legal when you guys get into the Firewhiskey.”

I laughed with him and hugged him closer.

“I love you, Uncle Harry.”

“I love you too, Nyx. Your Dad is so proud of you, wherever he is.”

“Time for presents!” Mrs. P called.

“PRESENTS!!” Sirius and James squealed, -they have a habit of doing that- rushing to the presents table and bouncing in their seats with anticipation.

Mr. Potter and I walked back arm in arm.

“OY! You two! Back off my loot!!” I called menacingly. (Well, what I thought looked menacing)

They whimpered, ‘We’re so scared!’ in girlishly high voices.

They haven’t realized I can use magic yet. (Legally) I flicked my fingers at them and instantly, their outfits changed to ours. (“Ours” being us girls)

“Hmph.” I marched over to my gifts, ignoring their squeals of protest and indignation.

I got: new chaser gloves, a broom care kit, and new quidditch shoes from James, a book on Chaser plays from Remus, as well as my favorite honeydukes chocolates, Celtic knot, green amber, white gold rings, (One for each of us girls, from the girls)

pranking supplies from Peter, a pretty leather journal made of all recycled materials from Lily, a pretty pair of earrings from Lily’s parents, and get this…

A NIMBUS FREAKING 1000 FROM MR. AND MRS. POTTER!!!!! EEEEEEP! Gryffies for the win!!!

“Sirius, did you give her your gift?” Tonks asked, and I touched my necklace in response.

All the women gushed over his thoughtfulness and the men congratulated Sirius. Like, the “Dude! You are so getting laid tonight!” congratulations.

“Rayne!” Will and Grace came bounding through the crowd with a box in Grace’s hands, wearing a short sleeved baby pink dress, and Will had a matching bowtie of his own. I swear, even the men ‘Awww’-ed. “You forgot us!”

“Oh, come sit with me, you two!” I pulled Grace onto my lap and snaked my arm around Will, pulling him to me.

I opened the box and my eyes started leaking. It was like a dam had broken and a river was flooding my eyes. Inside that box, were the wedding banns of my parents, as well as the watch my father had planned to give me for this birthday.

“Your father gave me that watch for safekeeping,” Mr. Potter explained. “And your house elf managed to save those from being lost. It seemed only right that your family returned them to you.”

I dabbed my eyes and hugged my brother and sister to me. “I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too.” they told me together.

After the party, everyone but Remus, Lily, and Peter went home, and Sirius led me up to my room to give me my last present.

“Here.” he handed me my present once we were seated on my bed, the door closed.

“Will I cry?” I asked warily.

He shrugged. I took that to mean yes.

I slowly lifted the lid for the square box and lifted the tissue paper to reveal its contents.

For a moment, I was shocked, but not for long. My eyes quickly filled with tears and overflowed down my cheeks, leaving salty trails. I clutched Sirius, for I didn’t even have words for what he had done. In that box was the last thing my father had ever given me. It was the dream catcher he made for my 14th birthday. I read the words carved into the wood in the looping handwriting that was so similar to my own, stroking them lightly. Something blue then caught my eye, and I lifted a blue piece pf paper from the leather. It said, “All my love, Sirius” in the familiar scrawl that I loved. I looked at Sirius, and knew that he meant exactly what was written there. He hung the dream catcher from my bed frame, and then turned back to me. “Thank you.” I whispered. “Thank you so, so, so much, Sirius.”

I don’t know why, only that it felt so, completely, right, but I tilted my head, and lightly kissed his full lips. For the second time that day, an electric current flashed through my body, and I was suddenly craving more of him, a fierce desire that seemed untamable unless I had him, all of him now.

I brought my lips to his again, this time hungrily, and I felt the same passion burning through his core.

My fingers locked into his ebony locks, pulling him on top of me, him being careful not to crush me, but I still couldn’t get him close enough. A soft moan escaped my lips as he nibbled the skin on my neck. My flesh was in flames wherever he touched.

He suddenly pulled away from me. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have-“ he muttered something about taking advantage of me. “you were upset- I just- I’m so, so sorry, Rayne.” He left the room.

“But I’m not.” I whispered.

And tears fell once again, but these were of a different emotion. A different emotion entirely.